Intermediate / Advanced Old-time Fiddle
Using the traditional repertoire of Southwest Virginia as a vehicle for exploration, we’ll take a deep dive into the soul of old-time fiddling and explore purpose, style, expression, functionality, and the role of the fiddle within an ensemble. With a strong emphasis on developing listening skills and recognizing patterns, we will break down techniques for bowing and phrasing that are at the heart of the old-time sound. Be sure to bring a recording device, notepad, and a curious mind!
Andrew Small
Andrew Small is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and composer who makes his home in Southwest Virginia. An avid proponent of traditional music styles from the Blue Ridge region, Andrew served as the inaugural Artist-In-Residence for The Crooked Road𝄖Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail. In 2022, he completed a Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship with master fiddler and National Heritage Award recipient Eddie Bond of Fries, VA.
He plays bass with Bill and the Belles as the house band for the PBS television show Farm and Fun Time and performs old-time country music with his duo Ashlee Watkins & Andrew Small. Andrew's string band The Alum Ridge Boys & Ashlee perform traditional Blue Ridge Mountain-style bluegrass and old-time music and in 2021 they took home first place at the 85th Annual Galax Old Fiddlers' Convention. As a songwriter, Andrew won first prize in the 29th Annual MerleFest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest.
Andrew holds a master’s degree in music performance from Yale University and is a member of the teaching faculty for the Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Program at East Tennessee State University.
